Process of preparing disinfected fruit



Potential alien. 23,1932

B. SLAElEiEh OF EIVJERB'ILDE, CALIFORNIA, ASlSIGNOR f0 FOUD MBLUHI'NERY EOE? PATENT OFFICE JPUM'ILKUN, @JF SAN J6EE, UALIIE'URIYIA, A GDH-PQRA'EIGN 0F DEEAWARE 'lll'o Illrewintg. Uontinnetion off: appiicetton Eterial Ho. 538,360, filet'l February 231,. 'itlile epplieetion filed ee'gtemter W 15380.

"flliis :ipplicetion :1 cont" 'w-oencling apolieotion tier-in]. No.

i February 21.

is Wlili known that most of the fruits vegetables grown in the open one intecteii. inotretoctine booterieantl flier-organn olecey much loss is ocionccl thereby, so that, because of this so o- .rliy necessary loss, the oost of that which "Wholesome and usable is inereesecl to the nier o yonri What it would be it such Motions could be eliminated. J iong the organisms causing immense losses in the shipping or citrus fruits onrl 1 no other liinris of fruits, certain inoltls are miown to be erticulerly destructive, The

etion o'l my 538,3 60,

l'i mold and the mold Cerise immense ll as in the shipment of oranges. 'lhe term Most e oncl loss by prevention of this 'wntret'actire decoy enrl preserve the precincts i oreliercl and farm. Fruits and vegetables, it properly disinfected encl then preserved It "on septic conditions, Will inst end keep their freshness much longer if tresitecl by the n of this invention. topples nears grapes oranges lemons and other (is Well tomatoes, "potatoes onions, "t e, etc, can ell lie treat-eel by th s process,

only lisinteotent lent ire herniii iltltiS no unpleasant taste the goocls to novel the or M with coating l. lite netiiro, which While protecting it 'tri'mi infection will also preserve the moist content ot the fruit,

in the oraingegrowing districts of Celil tornie and elsewhere, every precaution is Seriai rm. whom.

how, and yet the loss troni decoy in transport is large. The loss is considerable as it includes the cost of picking, pecking, end the freight (on the spoiled fruit) to nothing of the value ot the fruit itself. The loss from clecey has already been consiclerebly retinned, but this loss still cuts into the g rotits oi e shipment to on untlesirecl extent, and the loss still heavy to: noon the inolostry.

The orange grows upon it tree in e grove nearly always infected with the bacteria of puti-efoction. it is true that the fumigation procticecl will pertiolly disinfeot the trees, but the ground. is usually perpetually infected end the trees end ifrnit rnnst he so Ubviously, the oranges are picked by infected hands, plececl in on infected tag and poore into on infected fielrl 1m, placed upon an infected. wagon and teiten to en intectetl p ecking house Where it is honolledi liiy infected machinery and finally wrapped and loonecl loy infected hands sometimes covered by more intectecl gloves. it is accordingly, not sorprising that there is much less from decoy in transport.

Various processes have been proposed for the preservation of oranges soul the prevention of decay, none of which has, time for, been Wholly successful. 'lfreotinent Witli espliyizieting gas, solution copper soit'ete,

e" 1., hove been tried, but with little suecess.

all of the ecesses e fruit it been "*"iiection anti not 1 tit t w Colic A is o i ng ell oliont: 7 2e riisiniection by such means must of necessity be eoncluctml in a seperate eportment hermetieerily settled, enol all traces of the gee must be removed from the apartment Toy suiteble means, before the operators can handle the Washing and coa fruit and before the fruit can be brought into the room with living human be' 7 Of course, as soon as the disinfection is complete and the fruit removed from that cycle of operations the fruit becomes exposed to the. surroun conditions, and because of the cleansing c act of the disinfection its surface is more receptive and more susceptthe fruit.

' The essence of my invention is the disinfection of the fruit with a non-poisonous disinfectant, and for this purpose I use hypo: chlorite of sodium, produced electrol 'cally and brought into contact with the fruit while warm, because the germicidal activity of the disinfectant is greater when warm, its reaction velocity being increased and the disinfectant made effective in a shorter time than when using a cold solution.

A solution containing sodium hypochlorite (of which available chlo'rin in the essential active constituent is'especially suitable,) as

this active chlorin destroys not only bacteria but also the spores of the molds which are likely to infect fruits. In the case of citrus b the slightly sodium h fruits especially, the blue or green molds are especially destructive, causing spoilage of immense amounts of fruit, during and after transportation to the market. In order to preserve the fruit from later infection and to protect its moisture content, I also preferably cause the fruit to pass, directly from the hypochlorite bath, u ward through a solution of a wax dissolve in a vehicle that is non-miscible with the solution, said wax solution floating upon the surface of the disinfectant bath and there kept in contact with the disinfectant sothat the fruit must pas u ward through both the disinfectant and e wax solution without coming into contact with infected matter or things. The solution of wax will completely cover and enclose the fruit and is assisted therein hlorite.

ecoatingwillbe'infini ythin but com lete and unbroken.

ypochlorite of sodium is one of the very best disinfectants known to science, its germicidal action being ter than that of carbolic acid in solutions of similar strength. It hasbeen found and published that the germicidal action of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) in a concentration of 1: 20,000'is as active as a 1% solution of carbolic acid. A solution of NaOCl=0.5% and in a mixture reducing it to 0.17%, reduced the bacterial count in solution from 1,966,000 to 0 in five minutes. And yet a solution of this strength can as a mouth wash or gargle;

In the preferred mode of carrying out the process of my present invention, I rovide an electrolytic cell in which sodium 0 oride brine is subjected to electrolysis with the production of sodium hypochlorite in solution. This sodium hypochlorite solution ordinarily leaves the electrolyzer in a somewhat warm condition and it is advisable to maintain the same warmth during the treatment of the fruit, such as oranges, therewith. The sodium hypochlorite solution preferably runs continuously into a bath in which the fruit is to be treated, this bath preferably being maintained in a tank having a baflie across the same, at the upper part of the solution, and in one side or section of the bath there is preferably maintained on the surface of the solution a thin la er of molten paraflin wax, or preferably a t layer of a mixture of a paraflin wax and kerosene or other oil, preferably an oil of the petroleum type. This mixture of paraflin wax and oilis hereinafter referred to as a wa material. The liquor from this tank may t on overflow into a preliminary washing tank if desired, and the water from this reliminary washing tank may be filtered and then pumped back to the electrolytic cell for regeneration. -In ordinary practice it is preferred to "keep the solution of ypochlorite in the final treating bath at a temperature of about 35, to 40 C. The invention in its broader as cts is not restrict ed to a particular strengt of the disinfectant bath. However, for the treatment of washed oranges of average quality and condition, very satisfactory results can be secured when using a solution coming from the electrolytic cell and containing, say, about 0.1% .to 0.5% of sodium hypochlorite in solution (corrending to about 0.06 to 0.33% of the hypo- :hibrite radical The active agent can be considered as t e hypochlorous acid or the active chlorin liberated by the amount of hypochlorite used. While this strength of solution has been found to be very satisfactory for the treatment of oran in what might be termed average condit1on it is to be understood that with other fruits or vegetables as herein referred to, either stronger or weaker solutions would, in some instances, be referable thereto.

0 fruit, such as oranges or the like, may first be washed in any ordinary manner or ing tank above referred to containing a solution in which there is a small amount of Ill with any ordinary washing liquids. They may then be washed in the preliminary washtill lid

from the hypochlorite solution is simply alreiaeee the halide where there is no film of waxy material, and the fruit is then brought upwardly thro h the hypochlorite solution and through it film of warty material. In this way the: no contact of the fruit with any septic m El'ltll after it leaves the disinfecting solutio before it passes through the layer of w material. Hence, there is no opportuni bacteria liable to produce decay, before the fruit receives its thin sealing coat of waxy material. l'lacliinery capable of conveying the fruit nirough the ordinary washing operation, then through the preliminary washing and disinfecting bath, then through the final full strength disinfecting bath and waxsealing treatment, is of a type all well known and hence it is unnecessary to illustrate the same. ln many cases it is not necessary to use all three of the liquid treatments above referred to. I ll; will he understood that the fruit after leaving the bath will soon dry and the paraffin mixture (waxy material) will harden to some extent, leaving the fruit ready for wrapping, if desired, and packing in the usual manner in any desired boxes, crates, or the like for shipment. "While l have above referred to the use of sodium hypochlorite as being the preferred hypochlorite to he used, the invention is not restricted thereto but is to be construed broadly as embracing the use of the hypochlorites of alkali-forming metals, namely those metals of which (like sodium) the oxide and hydrom'ds are commonly referred to as alkalies. 7

life claim is made therein to the treatment of the fruit with a film of waxy material ex cept in combination with the previous disinfecting treatment.

lines sodium hypochlorite solution decomposes to a large extent, the ultimate product carries sodium chlorid. In the product claims appended, the expression hypochlorite accordingly is to be understood as including the solid decomposition products.

The term fruit is used in the appended claims, in its broad sense, including the edible product of ye etable owth.

While the disinfecting hath is preferablysomewhat warm (say as-40 C.) it should rE ot be hot enough to cook or partly cook the ruit.

lo the circulation of the liquor through the electrolytic cell, main treating tank, preliminary treating tank, filter and back to the cell, additional sodium chlorid can be added, from time to time or continuously as desired, to maintain the desired concentration of the solution.

ft is to be understood that the coating with a wary material, can be omitted in some cases, in which case the fruit, after being removed fruit to become infected with.

lowed to dry, and then it can be wrapped in paper or the like, if desired.

1 claim:

l. A process which comprises passing sub stantially clean citrus fruit into a bath of a warm solution of a hypochlorite of an alkali metal, and then upwardly through a layer containing molten waxy material floating on the surface of said solution.

A process which comprises the step of bringing the entire exterior surface of fruit into contact w1th a non-poisonous d1s1nfectant solution containing a hypochlorite of chlorite, such solution being of about 0.1 to- 0.5% strength, and being applied at a temperature of about to C.

6. A process of treating citrus fruit which comprises applying thereto a thin coating of solution containing a hypochlorite of an alkali-forming metal, and thereafter applying to such fruit an extermely thin coating of a molten soft waxy material.

7. A process of treating citrus fruit which comprises passing the same through a warm solution of sodium hypochlorite of about 0.1 to 0.5% strength, and thence immediately upwardly through a layer of molten soft waxy material, floating on the surface of such hypochlorite solution.

8. The process which comprises the step of bringing citrus fruit into contact with a nonpoisonous disinfectant solution containing a hypochlorite of an alkali metal.

9. A process which comprises passing citrus fruit through a bath containing a warm hypochlorite solution, and thence upwardly through a layer containing molten soft waxy material floating on the surface thereof.

10. A process which comprises the step of bringing the entire exterior surface of citrus fruit into contact with a non-poisonous disinfectant solution containing a hypochlorite of an alkali-forming metal.

11. in the preparation of fresh fruit for the market, the process which comprises subjecting fruit to the ,action of an alkaline liquid containing chlorine in active form.

12. In the preparation of fresh fruit for the market, the process which comprises sub- Ill coating film o jecting fruit to the action of an alkaline solution containing sodium hypochlorite.

13. In the preparation of freshfruit for the market, the process which comprises subjecting fruit to t e action of an alkaline 1i uid containing chlorine in active form, and en providing the frnit with a very thin coating of protective material.

14. In the preparation of fresh fruitfor themarket,- the process which comprises subjecting the fruit to the action of an alkaline liquid containing chlorine in active form, and then providin the fruit with a very thin protective material comprising paraflin. I

Signed at Riverside, California, this 6th day of September, 1930.

HENRY B. SLATER. 

